40 Years of Warhammer: Miniature Retrospective – Stormcast Liberator
The Stormcast Liberators helped to usher in the Age of Sigmar with a new army and brand new look for the Mortal Realms.
This year marks the 40th anniversary of Warhammer and Games Workshop is taking some time to look back at miniatures that had a big impact on their work. Love’em or hate’em the Stormcast Eternals really helped to pave the way for the Age of Sigmar. They were part of the boxed set and were the posterboys for the “new” game launch of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar. And at the forefront were the Stormcast Liberators in their shining armor; heroes of old reforged by Sigmar himself!
“Armed with heaven-wrought hammers and hefty tower shields, Liberators descend from Azyr via bolts of brightest levin, crashing into enemy lines with the force of a thunderclap. Out of all the incredible miniatures in that core box, it feels right and proper to pay our dues to these towering battleline troops. This setting was heroic, fantastical, and contained hidden depths, starting a new era marked by a Stormcast Eternal statue taking residence in front of the Warhammer Headquarters in Nottingham.”
Stormcast Eternals Liberator
I’m still getting over the fact that it’s been eight years since the first Age of Sigmar launch box hit the shelves. This was the core set that launched the new game and completely changed things. The End Times had just happened and to say things were in the Warhammer Fantasy community were “raw” is a bit of an understatement. But we had these new miniatures to look at and wonder what the heck was going on.
The Stormcast Eternals were the vanguard of this new game. Along with the Khornate warriors included in the box they really helped to form the first images of the Mortal Realms. Since that time we’ve see GW greatly expand on the Age of Sigmar with tons of new models, updates, and we’re now firmly in the third edition of the game. A lot of that success is because of the new direction of the miniatures and the Liberators did help lay that foundation down.
The Stormcast Eternals range itself is one of the largest within the Age of Sigmar. Yet, with each new model that is added, you can still see the design elements from the OG Liberators shine through. Even with the latest models who have slimmed down a bit like the Vidictors you can still see the connections to the Liberator’s style.
The model range has even been able to incorporate more and more fantastical creatures to the mix. The Stormcast might have strong elements of Knightly Orders but their mounts are more fantastical than mere horses.
While the Liberators might not have been the flashiest models GW has ever produced their look has really influenced the entire army. They are the first of the Battleline for the Stormcast Eternals and for that we salute them!
Has it really been eight years since the first Edition of AoS launched?!
